Cafe O'lei Kihei

We stopped in the Wednesday before Thanksgiving around 6pm. We knew it would be busy since it's the start of the holiday weekend. We were expecting a wait. When we talked to the hostess she said maybe a 20-30 min. We said no problem and sat down. The manager came over and said that she was sorry we had to wait and we said its not a problem, we expected to wait and figured they were busy. She kept telling us that we were being so nice. She was able to get us sat earlier than the 20 min and kept thanking us for being so patient. Everyone there was just sooo very nice and they kept telling us we were being so nice! The ambiance was great and the food was amazing! We started with the Cafe O'Lei Crab Cakes and the Maui Wowie drink. For our dinner my daughter and I shared a Cafe O'Lei Caesar salad, my girls had the grilled chicken flatbread, my husband had the prime rib and I got the Kamakaze Roll. We finished off our dinner with the warm malasadas and the Mud Pie! Everything was so delicious. The manager kept coming by our table to check on us. We are so happy we stopped by there! This was a great recommendation from our surf instructor at Maui Wave Riders!

I eat at Cafe O’Lei about once a month. It’s a restaurant that has it all, gorgeous atmosphere, delicious food, amazing staff, and reasonable prices. You can see the beautiful waiting area in the second photo. I went into Cafe O’Lei for my birthday and had an incredible experience I would like to share. I was overheated and stressed from walking from the beach when I arrived at Cafe O’Lei for my birthday lunch reservation. My incredible server, Terri, immediately brought me water & had me breathe so I could calm down & enjoy my birthday lunch. I had the lunch fish special, the Ono fish, and it was ono. Each day Cafe O’Lei has lunch specials & they are always delicious and reasonably priced. The lunch special is shown in the first photo . I was further impressed by Terri and the incredible staff as she served a party of four next to me. They ordered multiple fancy drinks, appetizers, and meals. She did substitutions, special requests, and brought more mixed drinks while staying friendly and personable. When the meals came out to that table they were brought by the entire kitchen staff so they arrived together and it was a beautiful spread. Terri then surprised me with a delicious birthday cake topped with caramel, strawberries, and a candle. It made me feel very special. The special cake is pictured in the third photo. If you are a local or enjoying a Maui vacation you should absolutely stop by Cafe O’Lei for a meal. I’m certain if you do you’ll return again. It’s one of the absolute best restaurants on Maui.

Table of 6 was available right when we walked in. Greeted by our waiter Travis...he was very accommodating, good suggestions, friendly actually hilarious! We started with mango margaritas w/li hing mui rim (which I didn't like, wish it was regular salt) and their spicy ahi nachos. For lunch we had the Cafe O'lei fish special, pan fried Ono with coconut lime sauce, jasmine rice with caesar salad, Shrimp linguini, crab club sandwich and ended with mud pie. It's a win win place to dine with friends & family. Great service, food, and atmosphere for our "go to" restaurant!!

I had seven local people tell me this is a must eat here in Maui. We tried it and it was decent. I wasn’t impressed with my meal, which was their special Mahi Mahi with lemon basil sauce. It was dry and had no flavor. But my hubby had the blackened Mahi Mahi and it was so delicious! We also had the crab cakes, coconut shrimp & pork flatbread pizza, all were superb! Their Maui Wowie drink was also excellent ! I would go back next time we are here, I’d just order something different.